Hairdresser who had to travel 2 hours to find a prom dress that fit when she weighed 20st aged 16 reveals how she shed half her body weight by ditching sausage rolls for vegetarian meals

• Ellen Davies, now 21, from London, decided to change her lifestyle aged 16 when she was forced to travel two hours to find a prom dress that would fit her 
• Ditching her carb-heavy diet of processed food for protein shakes she shed 10st
• After losing weight and having a tummy tuck and breast enhancement to get rid of excess skin she is completely unrecognisable  

A woman who was a size 24 at just 16 has revealed how she shed an incredible 10 stone after ditching processed food for a vegetarian diet and picking up weight lifting. 

Tipping the scales at 20 stone, hairdresser Ellen Davies, now 21, from London,  decided to change her lifestyle aged 16 when she was forced to travel two hours to find a prom dress that would fit her.    

Concerned about her size, her parents Kevin, 40,  and Claire, 39, took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome – a hormonal disorder that impacts ovary development and egg distribution.

After being told she would need to lose weight if she wanted to resolve the issue she ditched her diet of sausage rolls and pastries and instead opted for vegan protein shakes and lots of vegetables, completely transforming her look. 

Tipping the scales at 20 stone, hairdresser Ellen Davies, now 21, from London, decided to change her lifestyle aged 16 when she was forced to travel two hours to find a prom dress that would fit her. After ditching her diet of sausage rolls and pastries and instead opting for vegan protein shakes and lots of vegetables, she looks completely different (right) 

Ellen is pictured with her mother before her prom. She was just 16 when she had to travel two hours to find a dress that fits 

Ellen has revealed how she shed an incredible 10 stone after ditching processed food for a vegetarian diet and picking up weight lifting

‘I believe my weight loss journey started when I was just 16, as this was the time when I was getting ready to go to my prom and was looking for the dream dress to wear,’ she said. 

‘I was so excited but after visiting the dress shop and finding out they had no dresses in my size, I was crushed’.

‘Myself and my mum had to travel more than two hours to a dress shop that stocked a UK size 24 which was absolutely humiliating and I started to get very concerned about my weight and body. 

Ellen felt embarrassed about her weight and decided to visit her doctor just a few weeks later where they performed blood tests and hormone checks to see what the root of Ellen’s weight was.

‘I tried Slimming World in 2016 shortly after picking out my dress, but this didn’t lead to any progress so I decided to visit my doctor who took some blood tests and did some hormone checks as I was so overweight,’ she explained. 

‘I was heartbroken as the doctor diagnosed me with polycystic ovary syndrome and said that if I wanted to “cure” my condition, I would have to lose weight otherwise I could end up not being able to have children.

‘I cried for hours at the reality of my weight causing such a serious health issue, but this made me determined to finally shift the pounds and change my habits, which is exactly what I did.’  

Ellen felt embarrassed about her weight and decided to visit her doctor aged 16  where they performed blood tests and hormone checks to see what the root of Ellen’s weight was. She then embarked on a weight loss jouney 

DIET BEFORE 

Breakfast: Sausage roll

Lunch: Pastries 

 Dinner: Processed meat

Snacks: Crisps and chocolate    

DIET NOW 

Breakfast: Protein shake  

Lunch: Hemp powder, flax seed  and peanut butter on toast

Dinner: Wholewheat pasta  

Snacks: Frozen smoothie, protein bars 

After changing up her diet from processed snacks and sweet treats to foods with lower carbohydrates as well as a diet with less meat, she found the pounds dropping off. 

For the first time in years, Ellen felt great and started to enjoy losing weight and eventually went completely vegetarian after six months as she wanted to switch to an even healthier diet.  

‘I think overeating and overindulgence initially led to my weight gain, as I would always snack on chocolate and crisps whenever I was feeling peckish and could never turn down food which I believe was my biggest downfall.

‘After a few weeks, I could see the weight just falling off and although I never initially weighed myself, I could tell that I had lost a significant amount of weight when I tried on my dress a few weeks before prom and had to get it altered as it was now too big,’ said Ellen.

After changing up her diet from processed snacks and sweet treats to foods with lower carbohydrates as well as a diet with less meat, she found the pounds dropping off. Left: before weight loss, right now

‘I couldn’t believe it as it wouldn’t even zip up before because I was so big and I felt great for the first time in so many years and I actually started to enjoy losing weight, which I never thought I’d say.

‘After six months, I decided to go completely vegetarian as I wanted to see if I could make my diet even healthier and within a couple of months, I started to lose more weight without even watching what I ate. 

After one year, Ellen had lost more than 10 stone and was now a UK dress size 10 and weighed 10 stone. 

Despite feeling proud of her progress, she was left with saggy, loose skin and as she wanted to fix this, she began weightlifting and powerlifting which helped tone up the skin around her thighs and bottom, but didn’t do much for her stomach and breasts.  

In September 2019, Ellen visited a doctor for a consultation where they suggested having a abdominoplasty – a tummy tuck – and mastopexy augmentation – breast lift with implants – which she was terrified about at first as she had never had surgery before but £13,000 later, she couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.  

After one year, Ellen had lost more than 10 stone and was now a UK dress size 10 and weighed 10 stone. Pictured before weight loss

‘I was terrified at first as I had never had surgery before, but I immediately saw the results and was completely overwhelmed with how good my body looked.

‘Recovery was very long and hard where I couldn’t walk for six weeks. Although I had no pain, there was a lot of discomfort but my body after the surgery made me feel so happy.

‘All my life, I would constantly see super slim women on the television and in advertising and I was always bigger, which made me feel like a giant but now, I was one of those people and losing weight has changed my life for the better.’

‘One of the hardest things about losing weight was never feeling good enough. Even now, I still have days where I feel like I have to train harder and get insecure about my body but I always tell myself to not focus on how I look, but to focus on how I feel,’ said Ellen.

‘I never used to get any comments about my body before, but now boys don’t even know how to act around me. I have people who used to make fun of me in school trying to flirt with me and turning them down brings a great feeling.

‘I’ve had hundreds of comments from people online who have seen my weight loss journey saying that I’m their inspiration and telling me how much I motivate them which feels great and I have started giving advice to people who want to get healthy.

‘Little steps create big achievements and although it can take a long time to see results, you can’t give up. There is no time limit and there is no right or wrong – just do what feels right for you and your life will become so much better.’ 

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